Efficacy of yoga as an add-on treatment for in-patients with functional psychotic disorder

CONTEXT: The efficacy of yoga as an intervention for in-patients with psychosis is as yet unknown; although, previous studies have shown efficacy in stabilized out-patients with schizophrenia. AIM: This study aimed to compare the effect of add-on yoga therapy or physical exercise along with standard pharmacotherapy in the treatment of in-patients with psychosis. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This study was performed in an in-patient setting using a randomized controlled single blind design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 88 consenting in-patients with psychosis were randomized into yoga therapy group (n=44) and physical exercise group (n=44). Sixty patients completed the study period of 1½ months. Patients who completed in the yoga group (n=35) and in the exercise group (n=25) were similar on the demographic profile, illness parameters and psychopathology scores at baseline. RESULTS: The two treatment groups were not different on the clinical syndrome scores at the end of 2 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, patients in the yoga group however had lower mean scores on Clinical Global Impression Severity (CGIS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (total and general psychopathology subscale) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) (P<0.05). Repeated measure analysis of variance detected an advantage for yoga over exercise in reducing the clinical CGIS and HDRS scores. CONCLUSION: Adding yoga intervention to standard pharmacological treatment is feasible and may be beneficial even in the early and acute stage of psychosis.